Newcomer Zeekr sniffing around Aussie Volvo dealers. Will Geely and Zeekr's local arrival upset corporate cousin Volvo's apple cart?

Chinese giant Geely has many strings to its automotive bow with domestic market brands Galaxy, Geometry, Lynk & Co, Radar and Zeekr sitting under its corporate control.

But globally recognised names like Lotus, Polestar, Proton and Smart as well as the London EV Company and last but far from least, Volvo, also sit within the Geely ownership structure.

With Zeekr breaking out of China to European markets and launching in Australia during the second-half of this year, and Geely itself currently recruiting Sydney-based senior executive positions, CarsGuide asked Volvo Car Australia Managing Director Stephen Connor if their arrival might impact the Swedish brand’s local operations. 

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His immediate response was, “I have no idea. I read it all on the websites and from what I read they’re coming here.” 

But surely the experienced British exec was being somewhat cagey as he also let slip he’s aware Zeekr has pitched to multiple Volvo dealers for local retail representation. 

Zeekr will launch locally in the second-half of this year

“We’ve heard Zeekr has already talked to three of our dealers and that’s about all I know.

“We need to be very focused on Volvo. What we don’t want to do is entertain other brands when it dissects and waters down what we need to achieve,” he said.

EV specialist Zeekr will launch here with the X, a compact, dual-motor, AWD EV SUV (which borrows heavily from the Volvo XC40) and the six-seat 009 people mover (the basis of the similarly configured Volvo EM90). 

And more broadly, Mr Connor is grateful for the Geely Chinese connection, noting, “Taking cars out of China means we save five per cent on average thanks to the free trade agreement.

“Plus, thanks to Chinese production (for models like the recently released EX30) we’re three weeks away from build to showroom whereas Europe is six to nine weeks. 

“We can get an increase in volume within three to four weeks,” he said.